


Skydance

by cosmicconundrum



Series: Blood in the Wind [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Wings, Avians, Confessions, Fluff, M/M, Oneshot, Pining, Wingfic, Wings, aerial acrobatics, eagle mating rituals, feat. osprey lance and peregrine keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:38:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24590167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicconundrum/pseuds/cosmicconundrum
Summary: When you join someone else in a skydance, you’re essentially offering them your vulnerability. One partner keeps his wings folded and must rely on the other to keep them both from falling. To be able to give yourself up like that means that you trust in your chosen partner more than words can convey. The dance has always been symbolically significant in that way. It’s the ultimate sign of faith. Of love.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Klance - Relationship
Series: Blood in the Wind [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567408
Comments: 7
Kudos: 180





	Skydance

**Author's Note:**

> i found out that eagles have this [super edgy, super romantic mating ritual,](https://www.livescience.com/55278-animal-sex-bald-eagles.html#:~:text=Daring%20courtship%20displays&text=The%20most%20famous%20and%20recognizable,apart%20at%20the%20last%20minute.) and my first thought, predictably, was to turn it into a klance fic.
> 
> here is the [playlist for this fic!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbdhaOvB0a4&list=PLMcZdFEtw-CzVDuemb5RhJArVvG6eTa-J&index=2&t=0s)

Keith didn’t really know when it started happening, but he soon found himself overcome with the urge to be around Lance all the time. He couldn’t stand separation, which was normally something he embraced. Isolation was the norm for him, until it wasn’t. When had Lance become such an important presence in his life?

He was also unfortunately overcome with the desire to fly in front of Lance. Not just fly in front of, as in pass by while flying, but fly in front of, as in  _ show off literally every single flight-related skill you have because Lance will be impressed _ , and there was nothing Keith wanted more than to impress Lance, because, because-

Well.

So whenever he was just casually gliding by the area of dwellings that Lance resided in, he found himself throwing in dives and swoops and mid-air barrel rolls, like he was performing in an airborne acrobatics contest for his life.

Lance was not as oblivious as he usually was and quickly picked up on Keith’s unintentional intentions.

It did not help settle the fluttering in Keith’s stomach that seemed to only become active whenever Lance was around. Keith could feel his nervousness rising in intensity exponentially whenever he finished a successful trick in front of Lance. His blue eyes would widen and sparkle with a kind of wonder and inspiration that tugged at Keith’s heart. Oh, he would do so many things to see Lance look that happy-- wait, what?

Either way, it resulted in the two teens hanging out more often. On days when there were no hunts, no chores to attend to, and generally nothing going on, Lance would swoop by to find Keith lounging around in his hut, bored as ever. Then they would go out to do something together. Most frequently they found the others, and the entire group would converse and fly. It filled Keith with a certain kind of happiness he hadn’t known he had wanted.

Talk in the village began to shift towards gossip and plans regarding the summer festival. The biggest celebration of the year held no less importance in everyone’s hearts, and they were prepared to dedicate the next few weeks to setting up and planning. 

* * *

There was a figure approaching him. 

Keith squinted as he tried to make out who it was. Brown wings, dashes of blue… ah, Lance.

Keith pretended he didn’t flap a little harder to try to reach his friend faster.

“Hey! What are you doing out here?” He called, an involuntary smile spreading across his face slowly.

“Uh, flying? Duh,” Lance snorted.

Keith rolled his eyes. The usual cockiness was back. When would it ever be gone?

“Race you to the sea!” Lance suddenly called, and then in the blink of an eye he had folded his wings and was diving towards the earth at insane speeds.

Keith shook his head slowly. If Lance thought he was going to beat him, well he had another thing coming. His wings folded against his back, and, like a controlled missile, he plummeted after the other teen.

“Bring it on.”

Wind whipped around his hair and feathers as he dived. He estimated his speed to be somewhere around the one hundred mark. Lance was a blurry blob under him, then to his side, then above him.

When he zipped past his friend he couldn’t help but cheer a little. There was something sweet about the thrill of competing with Lance, and even when he beat him it made the competition seem all the more lively.

The ocean was below them and rapidly approaching. They were only two hundred feet from the water. One hundred. Twenty!

Keith opened his wings at the last second possible and swerved to the side, narrowly missing plunging straight into the ocean by maybe the width of a feather. The tips of his black wings brushed against the waves and he continued flapping to try to gain some altitude.

In front of him and to the right, he spotted Lance spreading his wings in a curve of feathers and majestically swooping across the crests of the waves like a natural.

“No fair!” Lance whined. “It’s the peregrine blood!”

Keith smiled to himself. Though Lance attempted to sound bitter they both knew that he was just as cheerful and happy as Keith was.

They soared over the waves together, only feet above the sea. The sun was still out, and there were few clouds to obscure the brilliant light, which glinted off of the troughs and peaks like a glittering mass of blue. While Keith had trouble flapping to keep up, Lance was gliding easily, only flapping every few seconds and using the rest of his momentum to soar.

“You’re the one to be talking, osprey.”

Both teens knew that their own wings gave them slight advantages in certain situations. Keith was a peregrine falcon, and had smaller and more streamlined wings. It meant that he could fly much faster, especially in dives, but also that it was hard for him to glide without having to flap too frequently, which meant his stamina didn’t always fare too well. On the other hand, Lance was an osprey, practically made for gliding and flying over areas with weird air currents, like the ocean. Though he was slower, he flew more efficiently and could tolerate some wetness to his feathers. Keith had always thought that Lance’s affinity for the sea was special, and, after seeing him whoop and trail the edge of his wing along the sparkling water, was only reassured of his thoughts.

Keith started laughing when Lance managed to do a mid-air roll and not come crashing into the sea.

“Whoa! Did you see that? Did you see that? That was totally cool!” Lance shrieked.

“Yeah yeah, I saw that.”

Despite the fact that they were both still flying fast, and were feet away from getting soaked, Keith had never felt more at peace.

* * *

Eventually, it was time for the summer festival. The time for the ritual had come. Though both parties were more nervous than they had ever been, they trusted their instincts and in the implicit understanding that had developed between them.

The music continued swelling, but suddenly the world around them began to fade away. Nothing was relevant anymore, nothing except the two teens and their dance and the wind whipping around them. 

They soared in circles, always moving, chasing and following, in an aerial dance that came to them so much more easily than either could have imagined or anticipated. Everything felt right. This was how it was meant to be. 

Lance made contact with Keith's dark eyes and saw the open fondness in them. He felt his own responding smile accompanied by a graceful beat of the wings. No words were needed as they somehow understood each other in that moment. 

Gradually, the circles they flew around one another began to shrink, until the two teens were swirling and spinning at rapid speeds. 

“Do you trust me?” Lance yelled. 

Keith stared back into those deep blue eyes and felt as if he had plunged into the ocean. It was an overwhelming sensation, coming from everywhere at once. 

“Yes,” he whispered. 

They locked hands, fingers curling against each other and fitting so nicely that Keith couldn't help but believe that this really was meant to be. 

“Let’s do this.”

Both boys folded their wings at the same moment, and suddenly they were falling, plunging towards the earth far below like torpedoes. 

“I have never done this before!” Lance screamed over the roaring of the wind. 

“Then why did you ask me to trust you when you clearly did not know what you were doing!?”

“Because,” Lance said, “We’re both decent at flying, and also I’ve wanted to do this for forever.”

_I’ve wanted to do this for forever._

The words echoed around in Keith's mind. It was totally not the time to get flustered, but he guessed he never really did have control over his paleness. He was probably a shade of red so bright they’d need a new word to be able to describe it.

Keith looked down and saw the rapidly approaching earth below, the rolling hills that blended into high mountains and sheer cliffs off the canyon of tall trees where their homes resided. They were so close to the earth at the edge of the cliff directly underneath them. Keith estimated that they could probably only fly for a few more seconds before they needed to bank. Hard.

“Don’t worry, I got you!” Lance whispered cheerfully, and despite the fact that he was so quiet Keith had somehow understood everything he said.

With seconds until impact, Lance opened his wings and caught the rising air, and the two teens, whose hands were still locked together, plummeted along the edge of the canyon-cliff before soaring up, up, up, until they zoomed over the sheer drop and back up into the sky like the world’s most impressive boomerang.

Keith gasped at the sudden change of direction. His own nervousness was keeping him from relaxing and letting loose and trusting Lance completely like he should have. His wings were tightly folded against his back, and he couldn’t stop shaking.

Lance glided along slowly, taking time to bank so they wouldn’t get too close to any stone. The river at the bottom of the canyon glinted in the sun.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.”

Keith cranked his neck around to look at Lance and froze completely.

His eyes were a dark blue that reflected the color of the skies and sea. If Keith hadn’t already been spending most of his days looking into them longingly, he would have called that moment the most beautiful one in his life. Instead of being narrowed with cockiness and a smirk, Lance’s eyes were relaxed with sort fondness and affection. He smiled down at Keith gently.

“It’s okay, I won’t let us fall.”

This boy was going to be the death of him. Keith untangled his hands from Lance’s and wrapped them around his friend’s back, just under the base of his brown and blue wings, then buried his head in the crook of Lance’s neck. He smelled like the sea.

“Whoa!” Lance yelped and quickly wrapped his freed hands around Keith in order to keep him from falling, “Don’t do that man! I thought you were going to let go of me and just fly away.”

“Be quiet and keep flying, you giant dork,” Keith muttered.

Lance was obedient for once and actually shut up.

Keith could feel the breeze pushing through his wild hair and his closed wings. This was the first time he had ever participated in a skydance with anyone. He had to keep reminding himself that it was true, it was reality, it was really, actually, genuinely happening, and with none other than Lance of all people. It was a dream come true.

_When you join someone else in a skydance, you’re essentially offering them your vulnerability. One partner keeps his wings folded and must rely on the other to keep them both from falling. To be able to give yourself up like that means that you trust in your chosen partner more than words can convey. The dance has always been symbolically significant in that way. It’s the ultimate sign of faith. Of love._

Did Keith trust Lance?

Oh yes, he did. With his life. With his very soul.

It was quiet save for Lance’s soft voice.

“You didn’t fall asleep on me, did you?” He joked, rubbing his thumb over Keith’s sleek feathers.

Keith growled and tightened his grip on the other teen and earned himself the sound of exaggerated choking.

“I love you so fucking much,” he whispered.

And there was the sound of real, genuine choking, which then turned into coughing, which was only amplified in volume by the close proximity of Lance to Keith’s ear. If he hadn’t already gone deaf before he most certainly would now.

“Jeez, you can’t just say stuff like that while I’m in the middle of trying to keep your heavy butt airborne. What if you cause me to go into cardiac arrest and then we both fall and get hurt!?” Lance shrieked.

Keith huffed and turned his head so he could murmur directly into Lance’s ear.

“You wouldn’t do that.”

A quiet exhale, then a response: “No, I wouldn’t.”

And it became silent again except for the soft beating of Lance’s wings.

**Author's Note:**

> follow my [tumblr](https://cosmicconundrum.tumblr.com/) for assorted other content!
> 
> also i thrive off comments!!!!


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